Of Centaurs and Spears
by LadyAlambiel
Summary: How did three seven-year-olds manage to wreak such havoc? I honestly had no idea.


Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't... I also don't own the Narnian Calendar. It belongs to Elecktrum who was kind enough to let me borrow it for my story. Her own stories are awesome and you should go read them too.

Summary: How did three seven-year-olds manage to wreak such havoc? I honestly had no idea.

A/N: This is part of my _A Light in the Darkness_ universe and there are spoilers for the end of A Light in the Darkness: Rekindled, but you can read this as a standalone if you so choose. Enjoy.

**Of Centaurs and Spears**

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24 Frostmoon 1007

Cair Paravel was in a state of chaos and it was not Alambiel's doing…for once. No, this constant disorder could be traced to the presence of the young Prince Corin who, with his father, had come to Cair Paravel to celebrate King Edmund's seventeenth birthday yesterday. The foal had joined with Peridan's twin colts to cause all manner of disruption for the past week. Fortunately, the party from Archenland and the young prince would be returning to Anvard in the morn.

I sighed when I saw soldiers attempting to put three suits of armor back together. On my way to the tea the Valiant Queen had invited me to attend, I passed several Otters scrubbing away at where one of the walls had been covered in a number of pies. I shook my head slightly at the chaos so clearly delineating where Peridan's twins and Prince Corin had been so far. Now I could see why King Lune had mentioned he had doubted Anvard would still have its walls if Peridan's twins had remained there with his son. At this rate, I was becoming concerned for _Cair Paravel's_ walls. And, my sanity.

Entering the large solarium, I surveyed the room. The Four, Peridan and Marsalla, King Lune, and many others. It looked like Queen Lucy had invited half the Cair to tea again. I had to suppress the sudden urge to grin widely when I spotted Alambiel. I had only been chasing her just shy of three weeks, but we were both enjoying ourselves during this courtship. Of course, I'd been unable to steal any private moments with her this week due to the three menaces plaguing the Cair. Queen Susan gave me a gentle smile as she approached with a teacup, "General, I'm so glad you were able to join us today. Maybe you might share with us what it was that you and Kat did to so delight Queen Kepa when you two were in Zelaia since Kat refuses to give us any details."

I held back a laugh since I had a feeling I knew what Alambiel was trying to keep from them. I did not think the Queens themselves would read more than Alambiel wanted into the knowledge that we obliged Queen Kepa's request for us to demonstrate a Narnian dance for her court before we left. I caught Alambiel's slight nod to the far corner of the room and I saw Tuulea chatting with another Nymph. Ah. Yes, Tuulea would read many things into the knowledge of the dance. I cleared my throat, mulling over how to delay enough that I would not have to reveal something that would get me into trouble with Alambiel (courtship does not mean that Alambiel will not retaliate with some prank).

"This way!"

"No, this way"

"No, this way!"

I heard the trio of troublemakers at the same time the Gentle Queen paled, "Corin!"

Marsalla and Peridan both paled as they shouted, "Thane! Shane!"

I looked over my shoulder, moving slightly to the right…just in time to watch Prince Corin yank on the spear he and Peridan's twin sons were holding, causing the spearhead to slash to the right. It sliced through my tail at a crooked angle, just missing my legs and hooves. The entire room fell silent and the three foals dropped the spear, eyes wide. I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes as I exhaled slowly, reminding myself that they were merely foals. They were merely foals.

I opened my eyes, turned to face the witnesses, and bowed with as much dignity as I could muster with part of my tail now lying in a heap on the floor. I caught Alambiel watching with her hand over her mouth…to add insult to injury, this occurred in front of the lady I had only just begun to court. Peridan and Lune both opened their mouths, but I held up my hand. Their apologies right now would not serve to aid in my keeping my temper in check. They were merely foals. They were merely foals. I turned, passing the three foolish colts and King Edmund, who was holding the spear that had undoubtedly been stolen from one of the suits of armor the three had knocked over earlier, as I left.

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I couldn't believe my eyes. Oreius' tail… Oh my. The entire room remained frozen until the Kentauri had left. Then Lune and Peridan both turned to their sons. For once, even Corin (the boy was spoiled and often unrepentant) looked subdued as they crossed the distance to their respective parents with Edmund following (after he'd handed the spear to a guard). Peter looked at me, "Kat, would you-"

"Go make sure the Kentauri doesn't kill anyone? Yes, of course." I hurried out of the solarium, hopping over the pile of hair just inside the doorway as I went. I picked up my skirts with one hand and hurried first to my quarters to grab a few things, which I wrapped in a cloth, and then I walked very quickly to the Kentauri's quarters. I knocked on the doors, "Oreius? Peter sent me to-"

He opened the doors, looking completely stony-faced (not a good sign), but he let me in. "Why did the High King send you, Sepphora?"

Uh-oh, distancing. Also a bad sign. "The Four were concerned that you might lose your temper, which would be understandable if you did." I raised the cloth-wrapped items, "I also came to see if I might be able to fix the damage…at least so it won't quite so bad." For a moment, I thought my poor Kentauri had had enough humiliation for the day (believe me, Centaurs are _very_ touchy about their tails) and was going to refuse but then he gave a curt nod. I unwrapped the scissors and some cloths I could use for bandages just in case the spear had nicked more than Oreius' pride when it sliced through his tail. Kneeling behind the Kentauri, who was watching me in the mirror setting atop the mantle of his fireplace, I blinked in surprise. Oreius' tail had been cut in a very ragged manner. Unfortunately, a sharp line cut about a quarter of his tail so it barely reached his hocks and then it went down in ragged chunks until it reached the part of his tail that still hung to his fetlocks. Wow…

I ran my fingers through his tail before I went to work. I snipped until I finally managed to shape his tail into a semblance of order. I hadn't been able to keep all of his tail below his hocks because of that first cut, but I had managed to shape it so the middle of his tail ended in a tip just below his hocks. It looked better. At least, the spear had only hit his tail.

Setting down the scissors, I stood back up then lifted a strand of his tail, considering… I met his eyes in the mirror (and yes they were still as expressive as stone) and quietly asked, "Do you want me to bind up your tail? You said you had a patrol to the northern marshes scheduled for next Firstday, so no one would question it."

"No. Thank you, Alambiel. I will…I suppose we will speak again after I return from the patrol."

Like I was going to allow him to get away with such a thing. I gave his tail a gentle yank. He spun and pinned me to the wall (which was maybe a step behind me before he did so), his hands on either side of me as he leaned toward me. "What are you thinking?"

I probably should have been nervous…or at least apologized, which is what most people pinned by an irritable Centaur would do (especially if the Centaur in question is Oreius), but I didn't. Instead, the absurdity of the situation hit me and I started giggling. Oreius drew back, staring at me, obviously torn between offense and concern that my mind had snapped. "Are you- Are you laughing at me?"

I shook my head even as I laughed some more, "N-no, but Oreius, the look on your face after they cut your tail… And, I daresay no one in the room dared to breathe until after you'd left." I dissolved into more laughter.

The Kentauri huffed, but he had finally started to relax and I knew he was no longer angry, "I'm glad this amuses you."

I snickered then leaned up to give him a kiss, "I'm sorry, but at least your tail will grow back…eventually." I let him steal a few more kisses before I left to inform the Four (and Lune and Peridan) that the Kentauri was not going to go on a rampage or step on their troublemakers. They were very relieved and Lune hustled Corin off to Archenland first thing the next day. While Peridan's twins were not allowed to leave their room for about two weeks. How did three seven-year-olds manage to wreak such havoc? I honestly had no idea. I was right, though, about Oreius' tail growing back to its original length eventually…and it actually only took two months.

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**A/N: Please Read and Review! Leave a review and let me know what y'all thought about this one. **


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